Aerospace aftermarket specialist Ontic has officially opened a new dedicated maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, bringing around 200 specialists together under one roof as part of a $30 million global investment in its aftermarket support capabilities, UK Aviation News reported on 6 October 2026.
The purpose-built site covers 72,000 sq ft and is designed to strengthen Ontic's ability to support airlines and aircraft operators worldwide, with specialist repair and maintenance services for components across established civil and military fleets.
What is inside the Tewkesbury site
The new Gloucestershire facility combines engineers, technicians, customer service teams, supply chain specialists and logistics staff in one building. Its equipment includes dedicated pneumatic and hydraulic infrastructure, an avionics workshop with an ISO 7 clean room, non-destructive testing capability, a machine shop and a dark room. Ontic has also built in additional space for future expansion.
The site has already collected the approvals it needs to work on airline components. It achieved BSI AS9100 certification in December 2025, alongside Part 145 maintenance approvals from the UK Civil Aviation Authority and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. US Federal Aviation Administration approval has also been granted under CAA oversight.
Ontic is still working towards approval from the Civil Aviation Administration of China, which it expects to receive in early October 2026. Product lines are now being transferred to Tewkesbury as the site builds towards full operational capability.
Part of a two-sided investment
Tewkesbury is one half of a wider push to add MRO capacity on both sides of the Atlantic. Ontic is opening it alongside a new facility in Miramar, Florida. The company says the combined investment is meant to improve customer support, increase repair capacity and help keep aircraft and their components in service for longer.
A large part of Ontic's work centres on supporting established aircraft programmes. As a licensed original equipment manufacturer for thousands of aerospace product lines, it holds the proprietary technical data, tooling and test equipment needed to repair components to the original manufacturer's standards. That lets it offer warranty-backed repairs and keep supporting parts after the original manufacturer has moved on to newer products.
At Tewkesbury, the company also plans to work on component reliability through repair enhancements, material upgrades and obsolescence management. Those services are aimed at reducing recurring technical issues, improving dispatch reliability and helping operators control maintenance costs over time. Ontic's 24-hour Aircraft on Ground (AOG) service will add support when an aircraft is unexpectedly grounded and needs parts, repairs or technical help quickly.
What Ontic's leadership said
"The opening of our Tewkesbury MRO facility marks a step-change in how we support our customers," said Brian Sartain, Chief Operating Officer of Ontic. "By consolidating all our UK aftermarket expertise in one dedicated site, we are investing in the people, capability and infrastructure to consistently deliver a faster, more responsive and more transparent service."
He added: "Alongside our new Miramar facility in the US, this is a significant milestone in our commitment to keeping established fleets flying safely for decades to come."
Dave Mayne, MRO Director for Europe at Ontic, said: "I am really pleased with the progress we have made in bringing Tewkesbury to life. Our teams have worked hard to launch the new site quickly so we can begin delivering the benefits of a dedicated MRO facility to our customers. Every decision β from product to people to process β has been guided by that goal."
Why it matters
Component repair is one of the less visible parts of keeping airlines flying, but it is where delays often start. When a hydraulic unit, pneumatic valve or avionics box fails and no repair shop can turn it around quickly, an aircraft can sit on the ground. By consolidating its UK work into a single, fully approved site with room to grow, and pairing it with new capacity in Florida, Ontic is positioning itself to support established fleets that operators want to keep in service for longer.
For the UK, the opening is also a further investment in the country's aerospace aftermarket sector, adding specialist engineering skills and maintenance infrastructure at one Gloucestershire location.
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